Short answer. Yes. Section 1 lets any party, at any time after issues are joined, file and serve a written request asking the other party to admit the genuineness of a described and exhibited document, or the truth of any material and relevant fact, with copies of the documents delivered along with the request.
What the law says
At any time after issues have been joined, a party may file and serve upon any other party a written request for the admission by the latter of the genuineness of any material and relevant document described in and exhibited with the request or of the truth of any material and relevant matter of fact set forth in the request.
Rule 26, Section 1 — Request for admission. Read the full provision →
When this tool becomes available
A request for admission can only be filed and served at any time after issues have been joined — once the pleadings that frame the dispute are complete — not at the outset of the case before the other side has even answered. This timing requirement ensures the request targets facts and documents that are actually relevant to the specific issues the pleadings have already defined for the case.
What can be requested
A party can ask for admission of the genuineness of a specific document, so long as it is described in and exhibited with the request, or admission of the truth of any material and relevant matter of fact set out in the request itself. The request cannot demand an admission on a matter that is neither material nor relevant to the case, since Section 1 limits the tool to genuinely pertinent documents and facts.
The document-delivery requirement
Copies of any referenced documents must be delivered along with the request, unless the responding party already has copies, ensuring the party being asked to admit something actually has the material in front of them. This delivery requirement prevents a party from being asked to admit or deny the genuineness of a document they have never actually seen or had a fair chance to examine.
Why this streamlines trial
Securing admissions in advance removes settled points from what needs to be proven through witnesses and exhibits at trial, saving both time and expense for the parties and the court. A party who fails to properly respond to a request for admission risks having the matters deemed admitted, which makes careful and timely responses just as important as the initial request itself.
Who is bound and what a request cannot do
The obligation to respond only attaches once the request is properly filed and served on the other party, since Section 1 speaks of a party who files and serves the written request upon the other side — a request that was drafted but never actually served creates no deadline for anyone to answer, and defective service does not trigger the deemed-admission consequence. Because the request must tie back to matters the pleadings have already put in issue, it cannot be used to probe facts outside the case or to ask about privileged communications the responding party is entitled to withhold. Nor does a request for admission substitute for the formal offer of evidence a party still must make at trial; it only narrows what remains to be proven.